Teachley's Amazing Talking Brain offers tips and suggestions for increasing student learning. Each portion of the brain offers suggestions for How to Increase Intrinsic Motivation, Balancing Stress in the Classroom, 6 Ways Movement Can Help in the Classroom, and much more. Below the brain image are also links for other brain resources to use in the classroom. Some of the links are broken; however, the Amazing Talking Brain information is worth the time to visit this site.

In the Classroom

Share one thought a week with your building's teaching staff or teachers you mentor for motivation throughout the school year. Share this site with classroom tutors when training them to work with students. New teachers or student teachers will also benefit from this clever compilation of tips. With older (or more advanced) students or psychology classes, have cooperative learning groups research one of the topics at this site and create a multimedia presentation. Challenge students to move past PowerPoint and create an online Prezi presentation (reviewed here) or another reviewed presentation tool from the TeachersFirst Edge to explain the topic.

This Web site is an online library of The Internet Shakespeare Editions and more, with a goal to inspire a love of Shakespeare's works in a world-wide audience. Here you will find high standard multimedia materials, including thousands of searchable pages devoted to the politics, society, and history of Shakespeare's world. There are biographical details of his life, as well as one of the Web's largest collections of online texts of his plays, poems, and related resources.

Be aware: at the time of this review, a few of the links were no longer active. What remains is quite worthwhile, however.

In the Classroom

Be sure to bookmark this website in your favorites for your study of Shakespeare. Post a link to it on your class page to give students access to the literary works at home. Not only will they be able to have an entire copy of Shakespeare's works on hand, they will also be able to click on links for summaries, analysis, and assistance with nearly everything they will need to know about his life and writing. This is a great resource for you and your students to refer to for review, research projects, or just for reading the text, both in and out of your classroom. Are you looking for more Shakespeare sources and ideas? Save yourself plenty of time by visting TeachersFirst Shakespeare Resources reviewed here, where you will find almost everything you are looking for within this rich collection of valuable materials.

Find a collection of Google search tools all in one place! For those trying to figure out all of the wonderful options for searching on Google, this is the site. Just click on the type of Google search you want to learn about, and you will be there! Whether you need to search for books online, scholarly articles, or want to search the New York Times or the Washington Post, this is the place to start. Whether your search is professional, for research, or personal, make it easy on yourself and start with this site.

In the Classroom

Share on your projector or interactive whiteboard to give kids an overview--or explore yourself to learn all the options! This is a great resource for searching through different tools. Students could each take one of the sites for video and dissect it to look for things like intended audience, subject matter it's best for, and advantages and disadvantages of the site as a source. This is a great link to share on your class website for students (and parents) to use at home.

TV and Yearbook Classes: The links under "Copyright-friendly" would be a great starting point for a dialogue on what is fair or unfair to use, and would be a wealth of resources for students as they work to complete projects and pages. TV: The student video portion as a go-to for high-quality student-produced content is a must for any class in production. Have students share news from around the world posting on your class Wiki. Not familiar with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through. Have student groups "Advertise" different Google tools by doing a live demo on projector or interactive whiteboard for the class. Then use a poll such as Votesy, reviewed here, to find out which tool students vote as "most useful."

Text Mechanic is a collection of free, online, browser-based, text manipulation tools. All tools are simple to use. Basically, click on the tool of your choice, like the Count Characters, Words, and Lines or Remove Lines of Text Containing, copy and paste or type your text into the box, and submit. Results are instantaneous. There is even a tool to change and choose the color of the background, text and border of your web page. The sight is plain vanilla, but that is the beauty of it; there's nothing to hunt for - what you see is what you get.

In the Classroom

How many times have your students used the same word over and over again, accidently typed an entire response in all CAPS, or spent more time counting how many words they used than they did writing their essay? Demonstrate some of these text manipulation tools on your projector or interactive whiteboard and make the link readily available from your web page or class wiki and have students bookmark it in their favorites. They will love having these helpful tools when completing assignments on the computer. Although some of them are customized on word processing programs, they are often "hidden" or "well-kept secrets." The Text Mechanic takes the time and guesswork out of manipulating text.

Some of the tools are just plain fun to experiment with and make good time fillers when your students are using the computer lab or a class set of netbooks and some of them finish the assignment before others. For elementary grades, use some of the tools to scramble the letters on weekly spelling words or to generate scrambled sentences.

B4USurfis a free educational program for grades 3-12 that is designed to raise awareness of copyright laws and reinforce responsible behavior online. This site has safety tips, lesson plans, resources, and interactive activities for helping educators, parents, and youths with cyber-ethics and cyber-safety by having fun on the web while learning to surf safely and responsibly. The information is pertinent for elementary, middle, and high school students, who communicate, work, socialize, and entertain themselves on the internet. Unlike many of the other internet safety sites, the B4USurf educational initiative is dedicated to promoting both a safe and legal digital world by addressing unlawful copyright behavior through educating and guiding students to use computer technology responsibly.

In the Classroom

Use this site for your own background information and to help students make smart choices and learn the rules and responsibilities of using copyrighted work and technology safely. You will find a wide range of materials that may be shared on your interactive whiteboard or projector or adapted to meet the needs of your class, including quizzes, games, and suggested lessons designed to teach the skills and raise awareness for the risks they face online while searching for information, blogging, or engaging in other internet activities. Have students work with a partner and research various facets of this site and then create a multimedia presentation to share their findings. How about having students create a word cloud of terms about cyber-ethics and/or cyber-safety using a tool such as Wordle reviewed here.

Make IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) reading easy with more than 25 separate fact sheets presented for school based disorders. This is a great resource whether you are a school psychologist, social worker, speech/language pathologist, special education teacher, classroom teacher, or school administrator. The list is organized alphabetically starting with ADHD-Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and runs the gamut of all kinds of disabilities in the areas of behavior, developmental, emotional, hearing, learning, reading, speech/language, and vision. Each fact sheet provides an easy to understand description of the disorder, numerous identifying characteristics, as well as classroom implications, practical tips for teachers, a glossary of acronyms such as OCD for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and additional resources.

In the Classroom

Special education teachers, school psychologists, and the Special Education department will appreciate being able to download these pdfs for handy references that can be shared with parents and teachers. You may want to distribute them as an attachment to the student's IEP in order to make that document more meaningful and understandable. Another valuable way to use this resource is to send the link and description of this site via email to the entire faculty to use as a means to become familiar with the expectations of students with disabilities included in regular education placements and as a checklist as to whether a referral for intervention or full blown multidisciplinary evaluation is warranted.

This free teacher social network is "The Official Social Network of the Global Education Conference" but it is much more than a single event site. Find collaborative projects around the world for your class to join. List your own project to find others interested in sharing with your classes using online tools. There is a huge variety of projects (see "Discussions" area) using everything from the simplest to the most clever technology options, from digital cameras to mashups. Started as a social network for teachers interested in fostering global awareness, this Ning is a meeting place for teachers just trying ideas to those who teacher professional development on global learning. Find free virtual conferences to attend, engage in discussions to learn from other teachers, or simply browse the projects and ideas.

As an FYI, TeachersFirst/The Source for Learning is a partner in the Global Education Conference effort -- another free, non-profit effort to support teachers and students using technology effectively for THINKING and learning.

In the Classroom

Mark this one in your favorites to use for inspiration and connection as you plan upcoming units. You can join for free -- requires email. Just click "Sign up" in the upper right. Then tiptoe in or take a plunge. If you have been looking for ways to connect your classroom with others across the country or around the world, this is a great place to start. If you have never participated in a Ning, just click on the various headings to find your way around.

This site provides professional resources, articles, and handouts for parents, teachers, counselors and librarians to use to educate themselves and students about cyberbullying. Nancy Willard is the head of the center. She is one of the top U.S. researchers and voices on Internet Safety and teaching about responsible Internet use. There are some materials for sale on this site, but there is plenty that is free.

In the Classroom

Use the handouts and resources as part of a schoolwide anti-cyberbullying campaign. Have a parent information night, and provide them with the Parent Information Handbook that can be found in the "Articles and Reports" section. Send articles home with your weekly newsletter to keep parents informed about the latest information on cyberbullying. Have students create anti-cyberbullying posters using Poster My Wall, reviewed here, or traditional paper posters.

This site provides parents and educators with handouts, publications, and videos that can be used to educate students, parents and teachers about cyberbullying. This website is updated frequently, so check back often as you teach your students about the dangers of cyberbullying.

In the Classroom

This site is a one stop shop for information on cyberbullying. Use the resources from this site to put together a parent information night on cyberbullying. Teachers, librarians and counselors can use the videos and present them at a staff meeting. Purchase copies of the book "Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard" and run a book club. Post the links to the resources for students on your website for students to access from home or during library time. Include this resource as part of a schoolwide anti-cyberbullying campaign, challenging students to make their own anti-cyberbullying posters, videos, or songs.

Create online sticky type bulletin boards to view from any online device using Lino. Click to try it first without even joining. The trial canvas has stickies explaining how to use Lino. Join and create your own canvases to share stickies, reminders, files, and more. Change sticky colors from the menu in the upper right hand corner or use the easy editing tools that appear when the sticky is selected. Use the icons at the bottom of each sticky note to "peel them off," share, edit, and more. Create a group from your Lino page to share and collaborate on canvases. You can also share canvases publicly so anyone with the URL can participate. This is a device-agnostic tool, available on the web but also available for free as both an Android and iOS app. Use it from any device or move between several devices and still access your work. App and web versions vary slightly.

In the Classroom

Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have. Students can use this when researching alone or in groups, sharing files, videos, and pictures quickly from one computer to another. Have students write tasks for each member of the group on a sticky so that everyone has a responsibility. Show them how to copy/paste URLs for sources onto notes, too. Use Lino as your virtual word wall for vocabulary development. Use a Lino for students to submit and share questions or comments about assignments and tasks they are working on. Use it as a virtual graffiti wall for students to make connections between their world and curriculum content, such as "I wonder what the hall monitor would say finding Lady Macbeth washing her hands in the school restroom... and what Lady M would say back." (Of course, you will want to have a PG-13 policy for student comments!) Encourage students to maintain an idea collection lino for ideas and creative inspirations they may not have used yet but do not want to "lose." They can color code and organize ideas later or send the stickies to a new project board later. In writing or art classes, use lino as a virtual writer's journal or design a notebook to collect ideas, images, and even video clips. In science classes, encourage students to keep a lino board with (classroom appropriate) questions and "aside" thoughts about science concepts being studied and to use these ideas in later projects so their creative ideas are not 'lost" before project time. A lino board can also serve as a final online "display" for students to "show what they know" as the culmination of a research project. Add videos, images, and notes in a carefully arranged display not unlike an electronic bulletin board. This is also a great tool to help you stay "personally" organized. Use this site as a resource to share information with other teachers, parents, or students.

This handy website contains three egg timers that can be set to run individually or simultaneously. Simply click the arrows above or below the numbers to set the time, and click "start." All three timers have the same "ring tone."

In the Classroom

This site will be great to use with a projector or whiteboard to have a visual time reminder for students. Use the three timers to track science experiments. It is a great way to track intervals. Use the timers for clean up time, students have to be cleaned up by the time the third bell rings. Use for games or group work. Set all the timers to the same time, divide your class into three groups and give them a challenge problem. See who finishes in the fastest time. If you often use the same times, set the timers and add the page to your favorites. Now you have timers set up ready to go. Your students will probably have some creative ideas for using the timers, as well. Primary grade teachers introducing concepts of time and clocks can challenge students operate the timers themselves as a center, maybe timing how long it takes to tie a shoe or read a page, then reading the timer or writing the words for the time.

Are you looking for some "fresh" ideas to put an end to bullying in your classroom but are not sure where or how to start? Well, you are in the right place. This web site brings attention to No Name-Calling Week: an annual week of realistic educational activities designed to end all types of name-calling. No Name-Calling Week was inspired by the young adult novel, The Misfits, and presents an opportunity to address bullying as an increasingly, ongoing issue. Whether you are a teacher, student, administrator, counselor, or parent, there is an abundance of useful ideas, activities, and materials for elementary, middle, and high schools to promote anti-bullying awareness, and they are all free!

In the Classroom

Use the resources from this web site to plan and implement lessons that students will relate to, and help to bring an end to harmful name-calling and "dissing." Select some of the many safe Web 2.0 tools reviewed by TeachersFirst Edge, such as Automotivator, reviewed here for designing digital posters that can be printed, or PhotoPeach, reviewed here for creating a digital slideshow that includes music, captions, and more. TeachersFirst also has an entire collection of on line resources to create comic strips, available here to drive home the message that bullying is never a laughing matter.

This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers, parents, and students find, use, and create webquests. Teachers can find examples of webquests across the curriculum (and places to find MORE). Both students and teachers can find tools for creating their own webquests. We have even included some sample web resources as terrific seeds for webquest ideas.

In the Classroom

Mark this in your professional favorites for planning and finding webquests. The webquest format has been around for years and can be adapted many ways. Start from this collection and consider designing a webquest "Task" that uses a collaborative, web 2.0 tool such as those reviewed in the TeachersFirst Edge listings. Today's students will love the authentic, creative tasks and collaboration made possible by today's tools. TeachersFirst Edge reviews include ways to use the tools safely and within school policies, for a learning "win-win." You might even want to have student groups design their own webquests for classmates to try as a new twist on "jigsaw" learning.

Use Quiz Snack to create polls or surveys to place on a blog, wiki, or site. Choose among Poll, Survey, or Personality Quiz. Enter your question and choice. Click the boxes to Shuffle Options and even display a Show Results button. When done, click Save and Customize to choose from templates. Change styles and colors. Click Publish to share via a link, obtain an embed code, or share through Facebook, or email.

In the Classroom

Users must be able to determine the question and possible responses to generate the poll online. Remember to Publish your quiz to be able to share it. This tool does not show the individual votes of students. Though this tool can be used by students, it may be best used by a teacher. Students using this tool, need an email to register.

In the classroom: Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start your study by asking questions about the material. Discuss in groups why those in class would choose a particular answer to uncover misconceptions. Use for Daily quiz questions to gain knowledge of student understanding and a means of formative assessment. Place on a teacher web page as a homework inspiration or to ask questions to increase parent involvement.

Unsure of classroom uses for Voicethread? On this site, teachers share successful projects that use Voicethread. Choose from the subjects along the left side. Read articles sharing ideas, challenges in the use of Voicethread, and a sample Voicethread to view. New to Voicethread? Check our review of Voicethread here.

In the Classroom

Find great project ideas from educators who have used Voicethread in the classroom. For example, in Math find great projects about measurement, probability, and problem solving. In Science, view stories about Astronomy. View projects about Ellis Island and the Reconstruction along with other Social Studies examples. Find great projects on these subjects as well as Language Arts, Foreign Language, Information Technology, Professional Development, and Performing Arts. Have a great project using Voicethread? Join the community and submit your as well.

Need to create a simple website without cost? Google Sites offers a simple interface that is easy to use to build websites. Use some advanced features such as fonts, text size, text color, and headings. Add images and videos from You Tube to your site. Revert to previous versions of the pages you create through the revision history. Add a Google map to your page easily. Use other Gadgets that are easy to plug in by choosing one of the many Google Gadgets. Create many different kinds of pages in your site. Choose your own privacy rules for the site as well.

In the Classroom

Users must have a Google account or sign up for an account. View the controls in Google sites before creating to get an idea of usable features. Find great hints and tips about using Google sites here.

Click "Create a new site" to name your site and begin the process. Choose from a variety of templates and begin building your pages. Click "Edit" on your page to bring up the editing options. Use the buttons on the editor bar to change font sizes, color, etc. Click "Insert" to view a drop down menu of a variety of content that can be included on the page. Use the other tabs such as "Format," "Table," and "Layout" to change other aspects of the page. Be sure to click the "Save" button when finished editing a page. Create a new page within the site by clicking "Create a page." Choose from a variety of pages that have different formats suited for a web page, announcements page, file cabinet, or list. Be sure to select where the page will be found such as the top level menu or as a subpage under a different page in the site. Click on "More actions" to bring up other menu items such as "Manage Site," changing page settings, moving or deleting a page, and more. Share your site with others and invite users who can also make changes on the site.

Use a Google Site to create a simple web page for communication with students and their families at any grade level. In middle and high school, use student-created site(s) as a way for students to collaborate and share with many of the same features as a wiki.

Want to enhance the viewer experiences and discussions around the YouTube videos you embed? Enter the URL of your You Tube video to add DVD-like controls without altering the original content. Use EmbedPlus to add features such as scene skipping, movable zoom, third party annotations, slow motion on-demand, and instant replay. Set start time and scene markers if desired. Add your annotations during this set up process. When done, click get Code to either copy a new URL for your video or obtain an embed code to place in a blog, wiki, or site to share with others.

In the Classroom

If using student created video, please check with district policy about sharing student work on the Internet. If using with students, be sure to discuss what is considered appropriate/inappropriate annotations to make on videos. These videos may not play in districts where You Tube videos are blocked. As EmbedPlus uses its own wrapper around the You Tube video, it may be viewable in your district depending upon the filter being used. Be sure to test this before using with students. Note: The "real time reactions" option pulls in and displays public comments when you click it. Use the "enhanced embed" wizard and be sure to click the checkbox that deactivates this feature. You may wish to monitor these for possible inappropriate content.

Use the controls to add annotations or student thoughts to sections of the videos. Students can make these comments on their own videos or on a different groups contribution. Use this just to add playback controls that allow for greater viewing of You Tube videos. Have students find a video (or assign one) and annotate it with curriculum related discussion, criticism, vocabulary, etc. Students can then embed this product in his/her blog or a class wiki or site. Don't have one of those? Consider using WebNode, reviewed here. Make an annotated video with question prompts in annotations and embed in wiki to share with your classes. Playback using the slow motion and zoom would be a great item to show on a whiteboard or projector.

The Digital Is website hosts resources, reflections, and stories about what it means to teach writing in our digital, interconnected world. This special resource from the National Writers Project looks at what digital writing is, what it might look like in practice, and the many new multi-media authoring tools and websites that redefine the kinds of writing students can compose in our classrooms. Writing today is so much more than pens and paper. Digital Is explores how we write, share, collaborate, publish, and participate today and in the future, and what that means for the teaching of writing. It is an emerging knowledge-base created and curated by its community of educators, kindergarten through university level. In today's world of texting, tweeting, blogging, and social networking, young people need new literacies to succeed in the information rich, fast paced world, and schools need to adapt teaching practices to equip students with the technology-related communication skills they need to thrive in the global workplace.

In the Classroom

Save this site in your favorites to integrate new technologies for 21st century learning. Then make a point of stopping to explore the new ideas on this site regularly -- or whenever you need inspiration. Challenge yourself to start by using one of these new writing ideas per marking period. You may get hooked. Teaching writing is undoubtedly undergoing a huge change, and the models, tips, and information from Digital Is can help you discover how to use digital writing as a means to develop critical thinking, strategies, and skills that enrich learning beyond just the traditional. An added bonus to trying these ideas is that your students will see writing as something "now" not something "required." Make digital writing part of your teaching vocabulary.

This site provides information for kids, parents, and educators on the topic of cyberbullying. Learn what cyberbullying is, prevention, what's the law, and more. Each section is broken down by age groups (ages 7-10, 11-13, or 14-17). Each age level includes the following areas: Are you a cyberbully?, Take 5!, Ms. Parry's guide to correct online etiquette (Netiquette), and "Because I can."

In the Classroom

This site will be a good addition to any internet safety program. Put this link on your class webpage as a resource for parents. The site is quite text heavy so use this site to help you put together a cyberbullying presentation. Administer the "Are you a cyberbully?" quiz and have students discuss the results in small groups. Use the information found in Ms. Parry's guide to correct online etiquette and have students work in groups to create skits. Teachers could use the materials section to create handouts and lessons.

This site allows users the opportunity to sample, interact, and mash-up music that is posted as well as upload original works. Users are also given a URL where uploaded works and remixes can be located and shared. Note that the public can submit works, so -- although our editors have not seen any-- the submissions could include lyrics not appropriate for listening in school.

In the Classroom

Users need to be able to record music on their own computer, locate files on their computer, and follow onscreen instructions. Parents and family can hear their student's work as long as the student shares the URL with them.

Have musically gifted students use this to create school sound tracks for the school television show or announcements. Have students create their own drama club or musical interludes for performances. In music clubs, have students record their music to their artist page, share the URL with others in the club, and remix each other's work. In music class, use as a submission space. Have students upload work to their artist page and check work digitally.